I heart Christmas but let’s just say it…..Christmas morning is kind of nuts. The kids are all hyped up like they’ve eaten 37 candy canes before they’re even out of bed. Parents are groping for their coffee while trying to keep the kids from ripping into the gifts without them. You know, because you were up late wrapping and making everything perfect. And despite the chaos, we don’t want to miss a minute, right? Which is why we like to prep our Christmas morning meal ahead of time around here. Yes, it’s one more thing to do leading up to the big day, but it’s totally worth it.

(If you don’t have kids, congratulate yourself and sleep in late. I’ll just be over here envying your lifestyle.)

To make things a little easier on Christmas day, I’m sharing 10 make ahead casserole and breakfast ideas so you can actually enjoy some time with your family while breakfast is taken care of. After you’ve drooled all over the screen and the tasty recipes, you’ll find a few more tips keep things running a little smoother on Christmas morning.

Rice Krispie Treats (or Rice Krispie Squares as they’re called in Canada) are probably my favorite dessert ever. Like I can make a pan and eat all but two pieces. Because it would probably be completely bad parenting if I didn’t give the boys one piece. And it would also be bad parenting if they ate more than one piece because the sugar is bad for them and all that. I’m a giver that way. This year I’m totally up for “Mother of the Year”. And also the “Needs Fatter Fat Pants Award”.

Candy corn is totally one of my favorite candies, too. One time a friend brought me some Easter colored candy corn (who knew that even existed???) and I ate my way through the entire bag into a candy corn induced state of delirium. Which I then proceeded to wash down with a slug of wine….Riesling ,of course, since it paired well with the sweet candy corn. I was pretty pleased with myself. Until my boyfriend at the time told me he thought the way I inhaled that candy corn was “disgusting”. And just like that, he wasn’t my boyfriend any longer.

Now that I’ve over-shared, let me tell you about the day my two favorite sweet things got married. I was reminiscing about that fine candy corn day when I realized it was actually fall and candy corn would be in season again. Which led me to thinking about how nice it would be if I introduced my two besties and they became a thing. Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats. For real, y’all. This really is the kind of stuff I think about. #notdeep

(Look…. I’m sure it’s been done before but in this case, I simply chose not to look on Pinterest because I wanted to feel like I’d inventing something wonderful. So I did.)

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I even shared these with Liam who was home from preschool because he needed to buy a fire fighter hat earlier that morning. He was less impressed that I made him eat his lunch before the Rice Krispie Treat was served. Probably because those treats were my lunch. My house, my rules.

Happy wedding day to candy corn and Rice Krispie Treats. A very fine thing.

It’s time to start planning for holiday dinners and what dinner is complete without cranberry sauce? I’m not talking the stuff from the cans, either. Since I’ve been on a bourbon kick, I thought I’d experiment this year with some bourbon in the cranberry sauce. Oh, Em, Gee, peeps! This was one of my better ideas. It is seriously tasty and because the alcohol evaporates as it cooks, you don’t need to worry about getting your entire family “sauced”. Ha! See what I did there?

You know what else? It’s easy to make and you can make it ahead of time. Which was totally my plan for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Make everything ahead so I can spend some time with the family rather than with the kitchen. And, also there’s leftover bourbon. Lots of it. So much that I bourboned all the things.

This sauce is amazingly easy to make. Throw the ingredients in pot, cook for approximately 20 minutes, cool, and serve. Or cool, store and serve later. This recipe serves 6 adults so go ahead and double it if you have more guests. You’ll still have lots of bourbon left. 😉

The recipe calls for 1-3 tablespoons of bourbon. I only added 1 tablespoon because I wasn’t sure if everyone coming was feeling the bourbon thing the way I was. It was super yummy. Like eat it with a spoon yummy, even with a small amount of bourbon. How many more times can I say bourbon? Really. (I was not slugging the bourbon while writing this post, I swear.)

I don’t think fall got the memo that I wasn’t interested in giving up summer. Fall arrived here with a bang on Thursday and I’m cold and cranky. Also, I have no idea where September went. We had an interesting month since it was actually hot and sunny until Thursday morning when I woke up, slipped on my flip-flops and nearly got frost bite driving the boys to pre-school. Note to self…find fall clothes and shoes. Soon.

Since it was warm for most of the month, we actually managed to get to the trailer over the Labor Day weekend. Total fail! I blame the dog. She is clearly a city dog because she acted like an idiot from the time we left until we got home. While I was grabbing groceries, she managed to tear through the garbage and I came home to pick her up to half eaten garbage (and diapers!) all over the foyer. Disgusting. Once we got to the trailer she wandered off until a neighbor found her licking sauce and grease out of their bbq drip can. Double disgusting. I brushed her teeth for the second time that afternoon, washed her face and confined her to the trailer. Where she managed to tear into the ham I had wrapped up on the counter. All this chaos went on within the first half hour after arriving. Just to top things off, she threw up on the floor. Stay classy, Daisy.

But wait….it got better. After she snored and licked herself for two nights on my bed (which is why she now wears those ridiculous baby jammies! And why she normally sleeps in her crate.) Daisy woke me at 6am, determined to use the bathroom. Since she usually goes out, does her business and comes back in, I didn’t put her leash on. I’m an idiot. Because she promptly took off across the trailer park, tail wagging happily behind her. I was wearing a t-shirt and underwear. That’s it. I managed to throw on some pants and chased her quietly around (because no one likes to be woken up by another camper screaming at a dog at 6am) until I caught her and plopped her back in the trailer. Where she threw up again. And when she wasn’t tearing the place apart she was barking at and chasing the boys up and down the length of the trailer. Because their noise is cause for her to become concerned and try to herd them. #lhasa apso #patronsaintofdisobedience

We ran our first giveaway in September and Jazmin W. was the winner of our HomeRight Paint Sprayer! Yay! I didn’t know how much fun giveaways could be. That’s definitely something we’ll be doing again. And I’ve joined forces with four other bloggers to host the Best of the Weekend Link Party every Friday night. I’ve been wanting to do a link party forever and I was so excited to be added to the list of hosts.

Here are a few other things we got up to last month in case you missed anything.

We started September off right with this 5 minute spray painted vase. That had to be my most impulsive and easiest project ever. Love me some gold spray paint.

Still so in love with my HomeRight Paint Sprayer which I used to makeover this dresser for a client. I also shared some tips and tricks for using a paint sprayer and we held our first giveaway. Thanks, HomeRight!

We made glammed up some pumpkins with spray paint and mod podge. Well, we actually did that 3 years ago but I posted it last month. Because procrastination, that’s why.

I shared a few details about my boys who have FASD and what it’s actually like to live with this disorder on a daily basis. Cute? Totally. Easy? Not so much. Still better behaved than a dog in a camper, though. 😉

FASD Part 2. Daily Life

We had our 3rd Blogiversary! I’m still a bit surprised that it’s been 3 years of blogging. I never thought I’d still be at it and liking it so much.

And finally, I was able to share 16 Yummy Pumpkin Recipes all linked up by our party goers at the first Best of the Weekend Party for the fall season.

And in case you haven’t heard the news, my bloggy friend, Jenna from Rain on a Tin Roof (whom I like to refer to as “Younger Jenna”), published her first book! I was thrilled to be asked to review it and I loved it from the very first page. Younger Jenna is amaze-balls and her book, Standing Out, is the bomb. I actually forgot that I was reviewing and started taking notes. It’s that dang good! Go get yourself a copy and start making notes! Seriously. Why are you still here? We can chat later. Go.

I can’t avoid it and when I saw these pumpkin recipes, I’m not sure I want to any longer. Fall is definitely here or at least on the way and so is my pumpkin inspiration for the season. If you like pumpkin anything, you’re going to love these ideas from this weeks party guests.

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Jenna is the creative mind behind 24cottonwoodlane.com and Cottonwood Lane Designs along with a host of other websites. Jenna is a former social worker turned entrepreneur. She currently runs a variety of online businesses, including coaching clients to help them find their passion as well as to start their on online businesses. Her most creative project to date is the upcoming launch of The Single Mom Collective, launching in July 2017. She has a borderline obsession with flamingos, traveling, and making things pretty. She is the proud foster/grandmother to two little boys with FASD and teaches college in her spare time. Read More…